Suspended Cheshire Police chief constable Simon Byrne has been charged with gross misconduct following accusations of bullying, repeatedly being late for work and being ‘volatile, unpredictable and offensive’.

He will face a nine-day disciplinary hearing later this year, the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Cheshire has announced.

The top officer is accused of bullying people beneath him - particularly women - in Cheshire Police and also at the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

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A 21-page paper, published by the PCC for Cheshire, outlines a series of allegations against Mr Bryne, who is alleged to have been ‘rude, overbearing and unreasonable’.

The ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ senior officer is accused of struggling to get into work early and of missing a series of meetings and events, resulting in first class train fares and hotel rooms being cancelled, which he then blamed on staff.

Mr Byrne is alleged to have ‘interfered’ in the arrest of a suspect because he wanted the collar for himself to win a competition amongst the nation’s most senior police officers.

(Image: STAFF)

He spent three hours dealing with the suspect after insisting on making the arrest, papers state.

The charge reads: “You knew or ought to have known that your time as a chief officer was misapplied in undertaking such tasks.

“Further, your motivation for wanting to make the arrest was to succeed in a competition being conducted amongst ACPO officers and served no policing purpose.”

The document alleges that on another occasion, Mr Byrne instructed an inspector to tell Assistant Chief Constable Janette McCormick her hair clip didn’t conform to required standards of dress.

He is said to have had ‘daily mood swings’ after failing to become GMP’s new chief constable in 2015 and is accused of ‘bullying behaviour’ towards Inspector Kate Woods.

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In the charge against him, Mr Byrne is said to have ‘lacked self-control and exhibited volatile, unpredictable and offensive behaviour’.

It continues: “You displayed a short temper and a lack of tolerance and engaged in angry outbursts and aggressive attacks upon subordinate staff which created an intimidating, hostile and humiliating environment for staff in the ‘ACPO office’ and which you knew or ought to have known would cause distress and anxiety to members of Cheshire Constabulary.”

Mr Byrne, who was suspended in August, faces a public disciplinary hearing at Warrington town hall, which begins on April 16.

He is said to have ‘openly criticised’ his head of IT, Andrew Herndlhofer over alleged computer failures soon after being installed as chief constable.

Mr Byrne is also said to have ‘unnecessarily berated and belittled’ Mr Herndlhofer in front of more junior staff.

(Image: TMS)

The senior officer is also accused of ‘blaming substandard equipment’ when he had problems with his iPad after allowing his children to download apps onto the device.

Mr Byrne is said to have failed to attend a meeting to thank an officer for their efforts, even though the officer had come in on his day off, and then emailed his PA to ask why she hadn’t arranged the meeting.

The senior officer is accused of failing to attend 12 meetings and events which are said to have cost the tax-payer more than £1,000 in rail tickets and hotel rooms which weren’t used.

Mr Byrne is said to have ‘frequently had difficulty getting into the office early’ and failed to join scheduled conference calls involving other chief constables across the north west, and urged his deputy to do the job instead.

He asked his PA to prepare a Powerpoint presentation without handing her the required information and then told her the resulting effort was ‘substandard’, according to the charges.